Black Girls ROCK!!!

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Just celebrating me!.....Not discounting you.

A couple of years ago, my nephew took a trip to Louisville, Kentucky to the Kentucky Derby as he does every year. My sisters and I always get a souvenir t-shirt of some kind when he comes back. He always thinks of his Aunties. We have come to expect this from him and he didn’t let us down. This particular year he brought back t-shirts in different colors that all had the same logo… ”Black Girls ROCK!” Awesome! And true! I took mine home with pride.

Now I should explain that I live in a community that is probably 95% non-black. Okay, make that 95% white. I grocery shop there, I go to the movies, I take long walks with my husband, we go to restaurants, I’m friendly with my neighbors and I’m sure that wherever I go, everyone can clearly see that I’m a black female. But if I wear my t-shirt, will they be offended? I CAN’T BELIEVE IT MYSELF, but yes, I had this thought the first time I went to put it on. I find that I only choose to wear it when I’m going about 35 miles north to my hometown of Flint, where I know people will get it. And no, I’m not ashamed of it. The reason is the conditioning that has taken place in the mind of a woman my age. Always thinking about what white people might think when black people are outwardly expressive about their blackness. OH. MY. GOSH. Just realizing this truth about myself and having it triggered by something as simple as a t-shirt has given me the cause, the pause and the courage to let it go and wear that shirt with pride! If they don’t get it, it is not my problem but theirs.

I had a conversation about this very thing with my adult daughter recently. Why is it that many of our Caucasian friends and acquaintances think it’s racist for us to have Television Networks, Colleges, Clubs and Organizations, etc. that are by, for and about Black people? It is because they don’t understand that we can celebrate us without discounting them or anyone else. It is because they don’t understand that we can have pride in ourselves without thinking less of others. It is because there are even black people who feel this way too, which makes me sad. We can encourage our children to be all that they can be without wishing anything less for all children. We should let our children know that it is okay to show pride in their heritage and their ethnicity by choosing hairstyles or clothing that express it. We should also let them know that their appearance alone doesn’t reflect who they are but who they are inside will be reflected through their actions.

Black Girls ROCK! That doesn’t diminish the greatness of the men and boys in our lives. We are their mothers…sisters…cousins…best friends…girlfriends…forever life partners. We are the women that they love.